Brock Samson
Brock Samson '''(Born 1962) is a main character on the Adult Swim show ''The Venture Bros. and the diestet '' He is a parody of Doc Savage, Race Bannon, and other masculine, super-competent characters from other adventure serials. He is voiced by Patrick Warburton. Background Little has been revealed in the series about Brock's upbringing. He was born the older of two children to a single mother in Omaha, Nebraska and is of Swedish, Polish, and Winnebago ancestry. He lost his virginity at the age of fourteen and pursues a highly promiscuous lifestyle as an adult. There are several references to the state of Minnesota throughout the series in relation to Brock: e.g., Minnesota Vikings logo on his headphones and Hunter saying he's "from the land of the lakes." He attended college on a Footbal scholarship to "State University" in the early 1980s, where his fellow students included Thaddeus "Rusty" Venture, The Monarch, Pete White, and Werner Ünderbheit. He roomed with Dr. Venture, but the two never socialized. He was expelled from the university after accidentally killing his team's quarterback during practice, leaving him with a guilt he has carried ever since. After leaving school, he joined the United States Marine Corps, and was eventually recruited by the Office of Secret Intelligence, a SHIELD-esque organization of super-agents. There he was taken under the wing of Colonel Hunter Gathers, an eccentric yet brilliant secret agent (modeled after Hunter S. Thompson) who Brock later described as "the second-closest thing to a father I ever had." As an O.S.I. agent Brock was granted License to Kill, a freedom he exercised with great zeal. While working under Colonel Gathers, Brock met and fell for Molotov Cocktease, with whom he continues to have a tempestuous relationship. Brock's career as an O.S.I. field agent effectively came to an end when he and Colonel Gathers attempted and failed to expose Hamilton G. Fantamos as a member of the Guild of Calamitous Intent during the episode The Invisible Hand of Fate. As a result, the double-agent Sergeant Hatred reassigned him to the 'rookie' position of Dr. Venture's bodyguard. In the episode ORB, it is revealed that this assignment was actually one in a series of ruses stretching back to the late Victorian era enacted to keep agents close to each Venture super-scientist so that they could be killed quickly in the event that they tried to make use of a mysterious artifact known as the Orb. At the end of the third season, Molotov Cocktease warned Brock of a plot by the O.S.I. to have him assassinated. He killed three assassins and played the Monarch against the O.S.I., only to learn that they had never intended to have him killed in the first place. General Treister offered to reassign Brock to "something a little easier on the ol' noggin." Brock turned the offer down, deciding to just quit instead. For some time after this, he stayed with Steve Summers and Sasquatch, a couple he met in Home Insecurity, and became very out of shape and overweight. Later he learned that Molotov and Hunter Gathers had hired the assassins and lead him to believe that the OSI wanted to kill him. The intention was for Brock eliminate competition for Molotov's all-female organization of contract killers, the Blackhearts Elimination Agency. When he attempted to getrevenge on the Blackhearts, he discovered that Hunter Gathers had in fact infiltrated the group as a member of S.P.H.I.N.X. for the purpose of disbanding it, and that he had never meant for Brock to come to harm. Brock joined S.P.H.I.N.X. between the third and fourth seasons to aid in their mission against villains whom the O.S.I. could not effectively combat due to bureaucratic restrictions. In the episode Operation P.R.O.M., Hunter Gathers becomes the new leader of the O.S.I. As a result, S.P.H.I.N.X. dissolves and the members, including Brock, rejoin the agency. Brock's true full name, John Bonham Brocks, is revealed to the audience in the episode "Orb," in which a database computer refuses to accept just his chosen nickname as identification. (However, in a comic twist, immediately after receiving the proper information he computer replies, "Confirmed: Samson, Brock.") Appearance Brock is drawn in an exaggerated muscular style satiric of comic-book superheroes, with an extremely broad chest and narrow waist. Appropriate to his half-Swedish heritage, he has blonde hair and light blue eyes. His mullet hairstyle is a trademark of sorts; other characters comment on it frequently, and it earns him the nickname 'Franken-Mullet.' His hair grows steadily longer over the course of the second season, and he grows mutton-chop sideburns. His appearance may be based on the He-Man comics, as Col. Gentleman once referred to him caustically as "Prince Adam", or perhaps an allusion to the biblical character Samson for whom he is named. In keeping with the show's vaguely anachronistic sense of fashion, Brock is usually drawn in clothing styles that were popular in the 1970s: four-pocket sports shirts, skin-tight polos, pastel-colored pants, white shoes, and side-zip ankle boots are all recurring items of clothing in his wardrobe. He and Dr. Venture appear to be the only characters on the show with significantly varied wardrobe. Brock also sports a half-finished tattoo of the Swan Song Records logo on his right biceps which he describes as "Icarus from the Led Zeppelin albums." Personality, Abilities and Relationships Though he has become a well-developed, three dimensional character, Brock mostly embodies the 'strong, silent' stereotype. He usually speaks in a low, gravelly deadpan and maintains a casual aura. He speaks calmly in anything short of the most urgent circumstances, and his level voice is sometimes at odds with a crazed facial expression. He exhibits near super-human strength, a facial twitch, and the ability to endure almost any kind of physical punishment, including unprotected exposure to the vacuum of outer space. During surgery to remove a bullet from his shoulder in the episode Hate Floats, his body is discovered to harbor three additional bullets, "a blowgun dart, two shark's teeth, the tip of a bayonet, a twisted paper clip, and a meager handful of buckshot," which he had apparently failed to notice. His ability to endure pain is matched by his ability to inflict it, which he does with great enthusiasm. He has shown himself to be capable of killing many different creatures at a moment's notice, including men, monsters, bears, and tyrannosaurus. He generally disdains firearms, preferring to kill instead with his hands or his Bowie knife, but occasionally makes exceptions for certain projectile weapons. Despite his disdain for guns, he is an excellent marksman: in the episode "The Incredible Mr. Bisby", Brock repeatedly stops the fall of Dr. Venture by pinning the cuff of his pants to the wall with a dart-gun. He refuses to kill women and children. Brock has a friendly relationship with Dr. Venture, although the two don't always take each other seriously. They have a long history together and have been shown to fondly reminisce about past escapades. He has an avuncular relationship with the Venture boys, often shows greater concern for their well-being than Dr. Venture, although both are frequently annoyed by them. By the time the series begins, his relationship with the Ventures has matured to the point that he refers to them as his family (Hate Floats). He also seems to have a friendly relationship with H.E.L.P.eR., the Ventures' robot, with whom he goes so far as to argue over Led Zeppelin and express shared appreciation for poetry. While much of Brock's past with the OSI has yet to be revealed, one aspect of his career that has been fleshed out considerably is his love/hate relationship with former KGB agent-turned-freelance-mercenary Molotov Cocktease, whom Brock has referred to as the "only woman has ever loved." The two first met early in Brock's career as an O.S.I. agent during a mission in Paris, during which Molotov left Brock temporarily paralyzed in a burning hotel. At some point in their relationship, Brock killed her father and somehow removed Molotov's left eye, which he keeps in a jar as a memento. Molotov serves as an apparently perfect match for Brock. Lethal and extremely resilient, and their rivalry has led to much bloodshed. In the episode Assassinanny 911, Brock has Molotov guard the Ventures for him while he's out on a mission. She's disgusted by the family and believes Brock's bodyguard assignment to beneath him. She asks him to quit and work as a mercenary with her, but he turns her down with a "go team Venture." Despite their intense chemistry, Brock and Molotov have never slept together because of the iron chastity belt she wears in respect of her dying father's wishes. When Brock believes Molotov to be dead, he finds the belt and keeps it. Brock seems to be unfazed by most supervillians, despite his comment that the Guild of Calamitous Intent is one of few organizations he respects. The only villain who seems to be able to communicate with Brock on his own level is Phantom Limb. He also has a history with David Bowie, who, in the Venture Brothers universe, is a shapeshifter and the leader of the Guild in addition to a famous performer. Whether or not Brock knows of Bowie's role in the Guild is not clear, but Brock makes it clear that he would be happy to kill Bowie if the opportunity arose. Brock's personality has evolved considerably throughout the series. In the beginning of the series he seemed to be hostile to most of the family. He largely ignored them, focused on brutally murdering his enemies and having sex as often as possible. As the series has continued he has begun showing affection for the Ventures, and a great deal of concern for their safety. Though a departure from the unfeeling Brock of early episodes, the writers confirm he is still assumed to be the 'Swedish Murder Machine' behind the scenes. Recurring themes * '''Muscle cars: One of the show's signature vehicles is Brock's orange 1969 Dodge 'Hemi' Charger, which he calls Adrienne. Brock has the apparent ability to instantly know when someone is in his car from a distance. He does this in Assisted Suicide, prompting Shore Leave to describe it as a "legitimate superpower". Hank then claims he's seen Brock do it from one country away. On several occasions the car has become an instrument of death and destruction. Brock has used it not only to fatally run down dozens of The Monarch's henchmen, but also to defeat Venture's twin brother, Jonas Venture Jr. Brock has apparently built a flamethrower into the car's steering wheel, and rigged it to activate during any attempt at hotwiring the vehicle. When Brock is forced to destroy the car in The Family That Slays Together, Stays Together (Part I), he is so emotionally affected that he is temporarily unable to speak. In Assisted Suicide, Brock demonstrates what his friends believe to be a 'legitimate superpower': his ability to know when someone is in his car. He also reveals that, after rebuilding the machine, he kitted it with an environmentally safe electric motor. * Classic Rock music: Brock's devotion to Led Zeppelin surfaces in several episodes. Some references are rather subtle (when driving the Charger, Brock almost always is listening to facsimile Led Zeppelin songs) while others are more overt, such as Hank rifling through Brock's collection of "Zep" cassette tapes or Brock drawing the logo of the band's label instead of completing the essay portion of a written exam, in addition to having a (currently incomplete) tattoo of it on his arm. He passionately believes that the band is more than just "jock rock" whose music talks about love and longing... and hobbits. In an "interview" with IGN.com, Brock has stated that his favorite track is led Zeppelin's "'Moby Dick', live at Montreaux." His password is "John. Bonham. Rocks." In response to a question sent from a fan on MySpace, Doc Hammer stated that Brock also likes Rush (up to the album "Moving Pictures"), early music from the Rolling Stones, Black Sabbath (until Ozzy Osbourne left), and the solo Dio. At some point in his youth, Brock also played the bass guitar (according to the Christmas special - the only episode to mention this - it was painted with zebra stripes - a popular motif among 80s rockers). In said Christmas special, he intended to give it to Hank as a present (whereas Dean was much more difficult to shop for); it is worth nothing, however, that all but the last few moments of the episode were part of Dr. Venture's dream sequence, so whether or not he actually played is not currently known. The only other reference to his musical aspirations is his regret, in his possibly non-canon interview with IGN that he regretted not getting a band together (he claimed to play "bass" and "vox" http://movies.ign.com/articles/538/538198p1.html). Hank did receive the bass, as shown in Dr. Quymn, Medicine Woman and a few other episodes. Brock's List of Cool Crap he never thought he'd get to do Due to the extraordinary situations Brock finds himself in due to his work as a member of O.S.I., Team Venture, and as a member of S.P.H.I.N.X., Brock has been able to accomplish things he never thought possible, such as: *His boyhood dream of putting Edgar Allan Poe in a headlock in Escape to the House of Mummies Part II. *Stabbing Adolf Hitler (whose soul was currently inhabiting the body of a dog) to death in Blood of the Father, Heart of Steel. *Killing a polar bear with only a knife in Ice Station – Impossible!. Relationships With Other Characters Dr. Venture Dr. Venture and Brock first met in college, where they where roommates, but they didn't see much of each-other. Brock later left after accidentally killing the school quarterback, which they took away his scholarship for, and went to work at the OSI. Rusty also left college a short time after this because of the death of his father. They later meet again when Brock is assigned to be his body guard. During this time they had a fairly steady relationship, until the episode The Family That Slays Together, Stays Together Part 2 where Brock quits the OSI and leaves the Venture Family. Hank and Dean It has been shown that Brock deeply cares for the "boys," as he calls them. While being a mentor-like figure to both of them as well as their primary guardian, Hank seems to have developed a closer relationship to Brock and even goes to the lenghs of emulating him. Brock has even tried to teach the boys various martial arts (with some difficulty) in order for them to be better prepared for the world. In season 4, Brock speaks to Rusty about leaving the boys for a time and is not allowed to contact them in any way (though he was located in the Venture Compund, with the rest of S.P.H.I.N.X). He goes on to say that being away from them was one of the hardest things he has ever done. Hunter Gathers Hunter Gathers trained Brock and is partially responsible for turning him into the super agent he is today. In Assassinanny 911 Brock says that he was like a father to him. In the same episode Brock is sent to kill him for abandoning the OSI. However Hunter gets a sex change and Brock can't kill him because Hunter taught him never to kill women or children. Later Hunter, Brock, Shore Leave and other rogue OSI agents join SPHINX. Molotov Cocktease In the episode "Eeny Meeny Miney...Magic!" Brock says that Molotov is the only woman he ever loved. She and Brock have a history of trying to kill each other every few years. (This may be yet another nod to comics; Marvel Comics has an estranged couple in the superhero named Silver Sable and the villain named The Foreigner, who are also both world-class assassins; they remain friendly after divorcing, but each infrequently tries to kill the other as either an unorthodox "love token" to one another, or as a test of each others abilities.) In "The Family That Slays Together Stays Together" she tells Brock that the OSI is after him, but it turns out she was setting him up to kill the top assassins so that her mercenary group, "the Black Hearts" could become the top assassins. In "Operation P.R.O.M." Molotov tries to kill Brock once again. She ends up falling, presumably, to her death off of a cliff after it is revealed she was romantically linked with Monstroso. However, in the opening of the first episode of Season 5, it becomes known that both her and Monstroso faked their deaths and escaped. Shore Leave Shore Leave and Brock first met back in their OSI days, where they had a rivalry because Brock and Hunter believed that the Guild was still active. Later in The Family That Slays, Stays Together Part I Hunter tells Brock that Shore Leave and Sky Pilot can help him, but they prove to be ultimately useless. They are currently both members of SPHINX and get along a lot better then they used to. Hunter frequently picks them to go on or accompany him on missions (which Sky Pilot lampshades in Operation P.R.O.M. proving the usefulness of them as a team. Poker Night 2 Information Brock appears in the game Poker Night 2, revealing more information about his lineage, his interests, etc. It is unknown as of yet if these are considered canon with in the Venture Brothers universe. *His drink of choice is beer. *Brock is a fan of the show British series Downton Abbey. *His hairdresser's name is Miss Lily, and she is the only one who he trusts to do his hair. *Super-testosterone prevents Brock from wearing a hat for more than a few hours. *Brock appeared in a fictional Mortal Kombat knockoff called Immortal Bomcat. His likeness was used without permission, under the name "Tutu Blondie", and his Fatality was a kiss of death. He mentions that he made sure the company that made the game went bankrupt "with extreme prejudice". Poker Night 2 Relationships Ashley "Ash" Williams A conversation with GLaDOS reveals that Brock Samson's lineage can be traced back to the 14th century, when one of the other poker competitors, Ash Williams, travelled back in time during the events of the film Army of Darkness. Ash slept with a woman named Sheila, who became pregnant, eventually marrying another man. Sheila died of the Black Plague, leaving one child behind, and eight grandchildren. The family moved to Poland, later escaping to Sweden to escape the Nazis. The family ended up in Minnesota, where Brock Fitzgerald Samson and his brother were born. Brock mentions in another conversation that he had a sister, too, but she's dead. Despite all this, he does rib on Ash from time to time for being a moron. Sam Brock respects Sam for saving the world so often, even though he's not quite sure if Sam is a man who looks like a dog, or a dog who talks and acts like a man. He also finds it hilarious that Sam is a dog that plays poker, referring to the famous painting of Dogs Playing Poker. Claptrap Brock finds Claptrap annoying, especially his voice and the fact that he wants Brock to leave the Ventures to be his bodyguard instead. Like with Ash, Brock thinks Claptrap is a moron. Brock and Ash both find it funny to rib on Claptrap, like deliberately confusing Claptrap's home planet of Pandora with the moon of the same name from James Cameron's Avatar. Steve After being eliminated in the Borderlands tournament by Claptrap's friend Steve (via a rocket launcher filled with confetti), Brock proceeds to beat Steve up, but doesn't kill him. Mad Moxxi Brock flirts with the Borderlands bartender during the intro, calling her "sweet cheeks" as she hands him some smokes. GLaDOS Brock seems to be the only one who can tolerate GLaDOS' dark humor, even though he still thinks she's "Grade-A weird". Her opinion of him seems to be that he is "a steroid freak with rage issues". Reginald Von Winslow Brock appears to be on thin ice with the host of the establishment, due to his tendancy to stab his opponents. He shrugs it off, saying to send the bill to Venture Industries. Save-Lot Bandit One of the characters from Telltale's The Walking Dead game. Brock stabs him to death during a game of Johann Sebastian Joust in the mumbly-peg room. Episode Appearances *The Terrible Secret of Turtle Bay *Dia de los Dangerous! *Careers in Science *Home Insecurity *The Incredible Mr. Brisby *Eeny, Meeny, Miney...Magic! *Ghosts of the Sargasso *Ice Station Impossible *Mid-life Chrysalis *Are You There God, It's Me, Dean *Tag-Sale, You're It! *Past Tense *Trial of the Monarch *Return to Spider-Skull Island *Powerless in the Face of Death *Hate Floats *Love-Bheits *Escape to the House of Mummies Part II *Twenty Years to Midnight *Victor. Echo. November. *Assassinanny 911 *Fallen Arches *Guess Who's Coming to State Dinner *I Know Why the Caged Bird Kills *¡Viva Los Muertos! *Showdown at Cremation Creek Part I *Showdown at Cremation Creek Part II *The Doctor is Sin *The Invisible Hand of Fate *Home Is Where the Hate Is * The Buddy System *Dr. Quymn, Medicine Woman *What Goes Down, Must Come Up *ORB *The Family That Slays, Stays Together Part I *The Family That Slays, Stays Together Part II *Blood of the Father, Heart of Steel *Pinstripes & Poltergeists *The Diving Bell Vs. The Butter-glider *Pomp and Circuitry *Every Which Way But Zeus *Everybody Comes to Hank's *Assisted Suicide *The Silent Partners *Operation P.R.O.M. *From the Ladle to the Grave: The Story of Shallow Gravy Trivia In Spankopita it is revealed that brock has two illegitimate son with two attractive women and when seeing his oldest son brock feign an order from hunter to awakardley hang up the wrist watch communicator. External links * IGN: 10 Questions: Brock Samson * The Venture Bros.: AdultSwim.com * Brock Samson: MySpace Fan Page Gallery shot1313123.jpg Picture 1424.png Screen shot 2010-12-06 at 8.33.43 PM.png scr1246747.jpg scr09856.jpg shot474.jpg BBP09101AAlg.jpg|Brock Samson Action Figure scr10rjh.jpg Category:Characters Category:Male Characters Category:Venture Family